New player bonuses at WSOP NJ

$10 Free: Exclusive to OPR. This offer is available to new players only. Use this link and WSOP NJ bonus code 10FREE. Verify your email after signing up and the bonus will be credited to your account in 72 hours. Cash good for tournaments or cash games. Must be wagered 1 time before you can cash out.

100% / $400 Match Bonus: New players making a first deposit receive a 100% up to $400 match bonus. It clears at a rate of $10 for every $50 in rake paid. Any portion of the bonus that is not releases within 60 days expires. Read more or sign up.

When PokerStars NJ first set up shop, cash game traffic on then market share leading WSOP/888 took a substantial hit. Since, liquidity has rebounded somewhat, but it looks as though WSOP will have to content itself with second place.

Cash games

Based on the latest figures from PokerScout.com, cash game averages on the WSOP/888 shared liquidity network are hovering right around 150, good for a 35 percent share of the market. At peak hours, which are typically from 8 p.m. – 12 a.m. on weekdays and from the late afternoon onward on Sundays, as many as 350-400 players will be seated at ring games.

Playing options are pretty limited. No limit hold’em games accounts for roughly 45 of the 50 cash games running during prime time hours, with PLO/O8 games making up the rest. Available stakes run the gamut from $0.01/$0.02 to $10/$20, but the majority of the action occurs at $0.10/$0.20 to $1/$2.

Worth noting:

WSOP.com and 888poker do not share liquidity at stakes $0.50/$1 and higher. Of the two, WSOP.com has the better mid-to-high stakes action.

Full ring games get off at a greater frequency on WSOP.com than any other site. It’s rare, however, to find 9-max games at stakes above $0.25/$0.50.

WSOP.com really needs to either eliminate the Stud, Stud Hi/Lo and Fixed Limit tabs from the lobby or do something with them. They’ve just been “hanging around” for what seems like an eternity.

Sit & Go

There was a time sit & go’s were thriving on the site, but that time has passed.

The way I see it, the decline of sit & go popularity can be attributed to three major changes:

PokerStars NJ introduced Spin & Go’s.

Sit & go play no longer awards leaderboard points in WSOP’s Player of the Year race.

The recurrent sit & go leaderboard promotions do not award as much as they used to.

Currently, it’s rare to find more than 15 concurrent sit & go’s running, and that’s during prime time hours. Of the ones that do get off, about 80 percent are NLHE games ranging in stakes from $1 – $25. The rest are either PLO/O8 games or higher stakes NLHE games.

WSOP.com and 888 share sit & go liquidity at stakes under $10.

Multi-table tournaments

WSOP.com has arguably the weakest MTT schedule, but it’s a fairly close race.

The two biggest daily events are a $5,000 and a $10,000 guarantee. Both feature relatively low entry points, $10 and $30 respectively, but players should expect to pay triple those amounts on average, as the tournaments adhere to a rebuy and big add-on format.

As far as turnouts, both daily majors continue to crush their minimum benchmarks, regularly generating prize pools that exceed their guarantees by 20 – 40 percent or more. The daily $100 buy-in, $2,000 – $2,500 guarantee high rollers also make the grade, typically drawing anywhere from 35 – 60 runners.

WSOP.com hosts two major freezeouts on Sundays. The first, a $100 buy-in $10,000 GTD typically draws about 150 players.

The site’s flagship weekly major is a $200 buy-in $30,000 guarantee, and tends to create a prize pool of just over that.

Once a month, WSOP.com ups the buy-in for the event to $500, yet oddly, does not increase the guarantee. It probably should, as the final prize pool for The BIG Deal seems to always end up being higher than $40,000.

WSOP.com tends to host one-off tournament series somewhere between 4 and 6 times a year, but they lack the prize pools and prestige of events on Party/Borgata. Typically, a WSOP.com series will be comprised of 7-10 events and guarantee a total of $100,000.

Not bad, but nothing worth traveling to New Jersey for either.

Grade: (last review grade in parenthesis) B- (B)

Value: Quantity doesn’t always equal quality

WSOP.com offers by far the most comprehensive promotional schedule of any existing New Jersey online poker operator. It’s just too bad that individual promos, including the site’s welcome package, do little to entice.

Welcome packages

The WSOP.com welcome package is fairly weak, paling in comparison to those extended by Party/Borgata and PokerStars NJ, and marginally worse than what’s offered by partner 888poker.

Players receive a 100% match up to $400 on their first deposit. The bonus clears at a slow 20 percent rakeback rate, and is released as follows:

First $10: $1 released per 10 APPs earned. APPs are WSOP’s loyalty points, and accrue at a rate of 2 APPs per $1 paid in rake/entry fees.

Second $40: $5 released per 50 APPs earned.

Remaining $350: $10 released per 100 APPs earned.

Players have 60 days to fulfill the APP requirements for the welcome package.

By comparison, 888poker releases funds at the same rate, but caps its bonus at $888. Party, Borgata and PokerStars NJ bonuses all release at 50 percent rates and are capped between $600 and $1,000. In addition, players on Party/Borgata receive “no deposit” bonuses in the form of cash, poker bonuses and tournament dollars.

There is one advantage to WSOP’s welcome package, and that’s the $100 Welcome Week Freeroll tickets players will receive. At present, these freerolls only register a handful of players, meaning the tickets actually hold significant value ($10 – $25).

Those who sign up via OnlinePokerReport.com will benefit from a special offer that nets players $10 free with no deposit from WSOP. This is an exclusive offer only available here.

Promotions

Promotions range from solid but niche to impractical and ridiculous. And overall there’s nothing about the promotional schedule that instills a sense of immediacy.

First, the good:

Recurrent promos such as the APP Leader Boards, which award rakeback to the highest volume players but only at the lower loyalty tiers, are well conceived.

APP Threshold Bonus and Sit & Go Leaderboards are more traditional, but still add significant value for select player groups.

The Player of the Year contest is a great way to promote healthy competition among New Jersey’s top grinders.

Then, there are the promotions that just feel like they don’t belong.

Take Big Sunday Bonus for example. This promotion tasks players with finishing first in four Big Sunday ($200+ buy-in) tournaments per month. Do so, and they’ll receive a 50 percent boost to their winnings for those MTTs.

Problem is, players are more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the bonus, as at most they’ll have five chances to put up four firsts in tournaments that draw over 150 of NJ’s best. I could understand if it were four final tables, but as is, this promotion is just for show.

Earning a Triple Crown is more achievable, although meeting the promotion’s top-tier requirement (win three 30+ entrant MTTs in a day to receive tournament fee refunds for a month) is beyond difficult.

A couple other niche promotions target seniors and military members, which is a nice touch.

Rake

When it comes to rake, WSOP.com mostly straddles the line between Party/Borgata and PokerStars NJ. However, at select short handed tables, it offers the best schedule in New Jersey.

The rake percentage for no limit and pot limit games is 5.56 percent across the board, same as Party/Borgata and slightly more than PokerStars NJ (5 percent).

At the lower stakes, the 5+ player rake cap is ever so slightly higher than Stars’, and roughly the same when 2-4 players are seated.

Once we get to $1/$2 the story changes, as at this stake and above, WSOP’s rake cap for short-handed games is lower than Stars’ and significantly lower than Party/Borgata’s. At 5+ players, all three operators share the same rake cap of $3.

Conclusion

WSOP.com offers the best rake schedule for mid-to-high stakes, short-handed games. Everywhere else, the schedule is either on par or lagging slightly behind that offered by PokerStars NJ.

VIP Club

Players do not receive any form of rakeback until they reach the club’s fifth rank (Silver), which requires $100 in paid rake/fees monthly to achieve and maintain. Even then, players who reach this tier receive a paltry 2 percent rakeback, redeemable as cash only.

As players progress through the site’s higher monthly tiers, they’ll receive just 1 percent rakeback more per tier, topping out at 9 percent for those who rake $3,750 per month or more (Diamond+ tier).

Once players reach Gold status ($200 rake/fees per month), they will qualify for the weekly 5 Seat Freeroll to the $30,000 Weekly Sunday. Each ticket has an estimated value of $8 – $10, equating to roughly 20 percent additional rakeback for Gold level players who play them regularly.

Worth noting is that there are opportunities to earn significantly more rakeback, but players will need to rake at least $25,000 annually to qualify. The site’s annual loyalty tiers are as follows:

Elite: $25,000 annual rake paid, 20 percent rakeback

Super Elite: $125,000 annual rake paid, 25 percent rakeback

Seven Stars: $200,000 annual rake paid, 35 percent rakeback

In a market as small as New Jersey, achieving Super Elite or Seven Stars would be a monumental accomplishment – probably not worth the time. Instead, players are much better off shooting for SuperNova on PokerStars NJ, which awards just over 30 rakeback and only tasks players with raking $9,100 annually.

Grade: C+ (B)

Software: Stable, lightweight and bland

The WSOP.com platform hasn’t undergone many revisions since first launching in New Jersey in 2013. That’s not entirely a bad thing, as historically, online poker software updates in New Jersey cause as many headaches as they resolve.

But at the same time, the software is really beginning to show its age, especially now that it’s paired up against PokerStars’ stellar client.

Interface and performance

WSOP’s platform is essentially a port of the one 888poker uses both in New Jersey and abroad.

One might think that a top dot-com operator would be constantly upgrading and polishing its front end software, but sadly, this isn’t the case at all. Instead, the 888 software (and by extension the WSOP.com software) is highly functional yet antiquated, severely lacking on the graphical and customization fronts.

The WSOP.com lobby adheres to the same tabular design that’s become a staple of the industry. The main tab, “All Games,” is further broken down into several sub-lobbies, each of which allows for further subdivision. Filters add yet another layer of customization, but the filters themselves are hardly advanced.

For instance, players can filter cash games by game format, stakes, players and whether a table is full or not, but not by table stats, like they can on PokerStars.

Also, the custom filtering system, or “My Favorites,” is rather shallow.

A couple of notes on the cash game lobby:

Both Party/Borgata and PokerStars allow players to view player names, stacks and positions from the the cash game lobby. WSOP.com lags behind, only displaying names and stack sizes.

On WSOP.com there is no option to find similar tables without navigating to a table first, and only one permissible way to view the each lobby – unless one counts the “Quick Seat” and “Beginner” tabs as alternative views.

WSOP.com does incorporate traditional wait lists.

Aesthetics

In total, there are maybe two or three dozen customization settings – compared to what seems like hundreds on most modern sites. Players are offered a few table layout options, a variety of avatar settings, and a smattering of game and quality of life settings – most of which lack the depth found on other NJ sites.

Lobby graphics are drab, making use of a color palette that hasn’t been in vogue for 20 years. Table aesthetics are better, but hardly special.

The good part about using an outdated client is that it’ll never tax your system. Whether logging in, scouring the lobby or playing cash games, I found the WSOP.com software to be highly responsive – maybe not as fast as PokerStars in some areas, but more consistent. Geolocation issues have been nearly nonexistent for a good while now.

Another positive is the previous hand viewer, which borrows heavily from the one provided by PokerStars NJ.

Account management

This is another area where WSOP.com is lacking. The first problem is that many of the site’s account management features aren’t even integrated into the client. Instead, clicking on “My Account” sends players to an external webpage.

From there, players can:

Alter their Responsible Gaming settings

View their bonus status

View, but not change, their personal details

Change their password

And that’s about it. A few more options are accessible via the internal cashier, such as transaction history (filtered by date and type) and ID verification functionality.

About a half dozen more basic quality of life features are hidden under the “My Profile” menu, including ones that grant players access to more detailed transactional and game histories, registered tournaments, available tournament tickets and loyalty point totals.

Feels like the bare minimum.

Cashiering

WSOP.com may not have as many available deposit methods as PokerStars and Party/Borgata, but what it does have that they don’t is PayPal, and that’s a huge plus.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if new and returning players gravitate to WSOP/888 just because it’s the only network that supports the wildly popular eWallet.

There are a couple other positives worth mentioning:

Typically, WSOP.com transactions process instantaneously.

Most cashiering methods allow for high deposit limits.

The sole exception to this rule is PayNearMe, which caps out at $500 per transaction – but that restriction is hardly exclusive to WSOP/888.

Withdrawal methods are typically limited to ones that players have already used for deposits – cash at the cage and physical bank drafts being the exception. Debit/credit cards are not available for payouts.

Generally speaking, players will have to verify their deposit method before withdrawing. This typically entails uploaded a government issued ID and a banking statement (or other relevant document) to the client, and rarely needs to be done more than once.

Otherwise, withdrawals tend to be speedy, but not as fast as the turnaround times of NJ’s best casinos. Figure 3-4 business days for ACH, and 7-10 for bank drafts.

Grade: C (C)

Customer service: Steady as she goes

Give WSOP.com credit for being the only NJ online poker operator to host a dedicated support forum that’s independent of Two Plus Two. Head of Online Poker Bill Rini does an admirable job of answering questions and keeping the forum up to date – it’s just too bad that not enough players take advantage of it.

Also, while I get the feeling that Rini and his staff dedicate a fair portion of their time listening to player concerns, they’re somewhat hamstrung by the limitations of working in a capped market and being just another cog in the 888 wheel – a company that appears far more focused on its international casino and sportsbook verticals than a small U.S. online poker room, and justifiably so.

As far as support quality, it appears to be moving along an upward trajectory, especially phone support – which is available 24/7 and has a call center based in New Jersey.

Live chat is less accessible (3 p.m. – 11 p.m. EST daily) and of a significantly lower quality. Email support is round the clock, although there are still times when I wait more than a few hours for a response. Sometimes those responses are worth the wait, other times, not so much.

Still, for now, I give WSOP’s support team a very slight edge over PokerStars, one I expect to be neutralized once Stars’ support gains a few more months experience.

Whether WSOP.com will assume that mantle hinges on 888 taking the U.S. market a bit more seriously – something I don’t think we’ll see it do until at least one or two more states legalize online poker.

Let’s hope, because even with all its first to market and branding advantages, without a new platform, a more diversified game selection and a better loyalty program (or at least more worthwhile promos), it’s difficult to see WSOP.com rapidly ascending to the top of the charts in any state.

WSOP.com New Jersey Review

Traffic

Value

Software

Support

Summary

Make no mistake, with Borgata possibly changing online poker platforms and Amaya personnel mired in insider trading investigations, WSOP.com is well positioned to become the most prominent name in U.S. online poker.

Whether WSOP.com will assume that mantle hinges on 888 taking the U.S. market a bit more seriously - something I don't think we'll see it do until at least one or two more states legalize online poker.

Overview of WSOP.com in New Jersey

WSOP.com New Jersey software

888’s poker software has been around for over a decade and offers many of the features available at other online poker sites, plus a few features that are only found at 888 online poker rooms.

This is the same software that is powering us.888Poker.com in New Jersey, as well as 888 Poker’s international network, and the WSOP.com software in Nevada.

Here are the different options available to New Jersey online poker players to play on WSOP.com:

Downloadable client: To have access to all of the features available at WSOP.com you’ll need to download the full client, which is available for both Windows and Mac operating systems.

Mobile: Caesars Entertainment has released an iOS app for WSOP.com that is available for both iPhone and iPad and can be found in the iTunes store. There’s also an Android app for real-money play.

WSOP.com network partners

The Caesars Entertainment and 888 Holdings partnership has also created a second online poker room in New Jersey, us.888Poker.com, but at this time the two sites are not sharing a network.

WSOP.com is operating as an independent online poker room in NJ, while 888Poker launched on the All American Poker Network, and at this time there are no plans to combine the sites into a single network.

Games available

WSOP.com NJ launched with a balanced selection of poker games at a variety of different stakes. Tournaments (multi-table and sit & go) as well as cash games (six-handed and nine-handed tables) are available around the clock, with WSOP.com unsurprisingly placing a heavy emphasis on No Limit Holdem games.

Stakes at the site range from $.01/$.02 to $10/$20 for cash games with tournament buy-ins starting at just $1.10.

In addition to No Limit Holdem tables, several other poker games are available at WSOP.com New Jersey. Here is the complete list of poker variants offered at the site:

WSOP NJ Bonuses & Promotions

Deposit Bonus

What you get

Exclusive – new players use this link and bonus code 10FREE for $10 no deposit at WSOP NJ.

WSOP.com offers a 100% up to $400 Deposit Bonus. This means WSOP.com will match your first deposit up to a maximum of $400.

WSOP.com’s opening bonus in New Jersey is equivalent to a 20% cashback/rakeback deal.

The WSOP.com deposit bonus expires 90 days after your first deposit.

Bonus Money is released in $10 increments.

First time real-money players also receive seven free tickets to WSOP’s $100 Welcome Week Freeroll tournaments. Tournaments start at 7 PM daily, and pay out 20% of the field.

The lowdown

WSOP has reduced the ceiling of its first-time deposit bonus from $1,000 to a comparatively paltry $400. That ranks last among New Jersey’s poker rooms.

The first-time deposit bonus in New Jersey also clears at a pretty slow rate – one of the slowest of any New Jersey online poker site at present. You’ll need to earn 100 Action Player Points (more on these below) for every $10 of bonus money, which works out to 20% cashback.

Furthermore, you only have 60 days to clear your bonus money, after which the remainder of your bonus money will disappear forever. That means that if you deposit $400 or more, you’ll have to contribute $2,000 in rake and tournament fees before procuring the full bonus. Should you fail to meet this lofty goal, you will still retain the portion you have already cleared.

Although raking $2,000 in approximately two months is not impossible, its perhaps out of reach for some low-limit players.

Fortunately, you will also accrue WSOP Points (more on these below as well) and would be on pace for the Diamond level in the WSOP VIP Reward Program, adding another ~8% cashback from the WSOP.com VIP Rewards program, which I’ll now explain.

VIP Rewards Program

What you get

The estimated Value of the WSOP.com VIP scheme is between 2% and 35% cashback/rakeback.

Players can convert their points into cash at WSOP.com.

The lowdown

WSOP.com uses a very straightforward VIP Rewards Program known as “Action Club.”

Action Club uses Action Player Points to determine a player’s level within the program. There are twelve monthly levels and three yearly levels – players can reach and WSOP Points are awarded based on your level in the program. WSOP Points are what you redeem for cash and prizes.

For each $1 in raked a player contributes to the pot he will receive two Action Player Points (APP’s), regardless of level in the Action Club Rewards Program. WSOP Points are also awarded based on rake contribution, but a player will also gain a multiplier based on Action Club level.

Monthly Tiers:

Copper (no multiplier) – 2 APPs

Copper+ (no multiplier) – 20 APPs

Bronze (no multiplier) – 40 APPs

Bronze+ (no multiplier) – 100 APPs

Silver (1x WSOP Point multiplier) – 200 APPs

Silver+ (1.5x WSOP Point multiplier) – 300 APPs

Gold (2x WSOP Point multiplier) – 400 APPs

Gold+ (2.5x WSOP Point multiplier) – 800 APPs

Platinum (3x WSOP Point multiplier) – 1,200 APPs

Platinum+(3.5x WSOP Point multiplier) – 2,400 APPs

Diamond (4x WSOP Point multiplier) – 3,500 APPs

Diamond+(4.5x WSOP Point multiplier) – 7,500 APPs

Yearly Tiers:

Elite (10x WSOP Point multiplier) – 50,000 APPs

Super Elite (12.5x WSOP Point multiplier) – 250,000 APPs

Seven Stars (17.5x WSOP Point multiplier) – 400,000 APPs

WSOP Points can be redeemed at any time, and possess a value of $.01, or $1 for every 100 WSOP Points you earn. Based on the requirements, the WSOP.com Action Club offers players anywhere from 2% to 35% cashback.

Silver – 2% cashback

Silver+ – 3% cashback

Gold – 4% cashback

Gold+ – 5% cashback

Platinum – 6% cashback

Platinum+ – 7% cashback

Diamond – 8% cashback

Diamond+ – 9% cashback

Elite – 20% cashback

Super Elite – 25% cashback

Seven Star – 35% cashback

For more information on Action Club or to see the current promotions offered at WSOP.com in New Jersey click here.

Current Promotions

Sit & Go Leader Boards

WSOP’s highly vaulted SNG leader boards are back, and this go around they’re awarding $3,000 in weekly prize money to the top 90 single table tournament masters, spread across three buy-in tiers. Runs from September 2 – 28.

Fall Reload Bonus

From September 19 – 30 returning players will be eligible for a one time 100% match bonus up to $500. $10 in bonus funds will be accredited for every 100 APPs earned, equating to a 20% cashback deal. Players have 60 days to fulfill the bonus requirements – all uncleared bonus funds, including bonus portions that have not been released, will be forfeited at that time.

Volume Discount

Tired of paying high tournament entry fees? WSOP.com has a solution. Volume players that participate in at least 10 tournaments from September 1 – 30 will receive a fee percentage discount ranging from 10 – 50%, depending on the number of real-money tournaments played.

ESPN Play Along

Opt in to WSOP’s ESPN Play Along to earn double APPs while playing cash games during WSOP Main Event broadcasts. As an added incentive, participants will be automatically entered into a drawing where one player will win $1,000 in tournament lammers, good for use in any live 2016 WSOP event.

Early Bird Special

And who said there weren’t advantages to getting older. From June 1 – February 28, 2016 players 55 years and older we’ll be awarded double APPs for every cash game played, and every MTT/SNG entered between the hours of 12 -4 pm EST.

Earn Total Rewards Status

Earn premier status at dozens of brick & mortar casinos throughout the world while playing from the comfort of your own home. As part of its cross-promotional efforts with Caesars, WSOP.com is now awarding one Total Rewards Tier Credit for every APP earned.

Player of the Year Race

WSOP’s most consistent tournament player throughout 2015 will receive $10,000 in cash, an exclusive WSOP.com POY ring, an invite to the 2016 Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and VIP seating at the 2016 WSOP Main Event final table.

Big Sunday 5 Seat Freeroll

Gold Status (and higher) members will receive tickets into a weekly freeroll where the top 5 runners earn a seat into WSOP’s biggest Sunday Major – a $25,000 guarantee.

Banking options at WSOP.com

WSOP.com offers the same array of cashiering alternatives as its sister site 888 Poker NJ.

Depositing options on WSOP.com are varied enough that most players shouldn’t have trouble finding at least one method that suits their needs. They include:

Neteller

Bank Transfers (ACH)

Visa and MasterCard Debit/Credit

Online Banking Transfers

PayNearMe

Cash at Caesars AC casino cage

In order to request a withdrawal you will first need to supply WSOP.com with a copy of your Driver’s License, Passport or National ID. Additional documentation, such as a bank statement, may be required depending on your preferred withdrawal method.

In total, WSOP.com offers four withdrawal options, which rates about average among New Jersey poker rooms:

Neteller – the quickest of the primary withdrawal methods takes approximately three days to clear to your account

Bank Transfers (ACH) – tend to hit accounts within five business days

Bank Draft – takes approximately five to eight business days to reach your mailbox

Cash at the Cage – can be secured for immediate use from Caesars casino cage in Atlantic City

The only real difference between WSOP’s and 888’s cashiering platforms is that WSOP tends to deliver payouts in a slightly more timely manner.

WSOP.com NJ – Frequently Asked Questions

Who can play at WSOP.com in New Jersey?

Players at WSOP.com must be 21 years of age, registered users at the site, and be physically located within New Jersey when they log on and play.

Can players in Nevada or other parts of the world play at WSOP.com?

No.

Only players in New Jersey are allowed to participate in WSOP.com NJ’s online poker games. Players in Nevada will have to register at the WSOP.com Nevada website, and players elsewhere in the world can join the WSOP.com website on the global 888 Poker Network.

Is us.888Poker.com the same site as WSOP.com?

While it’s powered by the same software and is operated by 888 and Caesars Entertainment, the two sites are for all intents and purposes separate entities. Your WSOP.com login details will not work on US.888Poker.com, and the two sites do not share player pools.

Do I have to be in New Jersey to make an account at WSOP.com?

You should be able to register an account from anywhere in the world, but you will not be able to verify your account or play for real money unless you are inside New Jersey.

Players outside of New Jersey are capable of participating in play-money games on the site and banking options are supposed to be available as well.

Get started playing online poker in New Jersey: Visit WSOP.com NJ here. Use WSOP NJ bonus code 10FREE to get $10, no deposit when you create your account. Terms and conditions apply.

Read past reviews of WSOP NJ

WSOP.com shares a common platform as well as liquidity across all low stakes cash games and most major tournaments with 888 Poker NJ.

However, there are enough key differences between the two, both in the games they offer and their business practices, to consider them as separate entities.

Traffic: Seasonal uptick beginning to have noticeable impact

Traffic on WSOP.com remained mostly flat throughout most of the summer and early fall, but has recently begun to show signs of life.

Granted, a portion of the site’s earlier liquidity struggles can probably be tied to the weather, as both September and October featured more warm and sunny days than what is typically observed for New Jersey.

Based on Poker Industry Pro and PokerScout.com data, the WSOP/888 network (WSOP.com shares liquidity with 888 at most popular stakes) is currently averaging about 195 cash game players, representing a 18% increase since early July, and a 20% uptick in the past 30 days.

Cash game traffic peaks at around 400-500 on weekdays and between 350-450 on weekends.

About three-quarters of cash game traffic is shared between WSOP and 888, with WSOP.com probably accounting for 75% or more of the remainder.

Traffic on WSOP.com in NJ is only 11% higher than on WSOP NV, despite NJ’s population being more than three times bigger.

Cash Games

After trending downward at a torrid pace throughout Q1 2015, and holding mostly steady from April to October, cash game traffic is just beginning to trend upward.

Players can expect to find 45-50 concurrent games running during peak hours, with the hope being that this statistic will at least climb into the mid-50’s come January.

To no surprise, the majority of players mix it up at the smaller stakes ($.25/$.50 and below). Higher stakes games ($1/$2 and up) constitute a smaller portion of total liquidity than they do Party/Borgata, but a greater percentage than on 888 Poker.

PLO games have fallen in popularity, now only accounting for approximately 5-10% of ring game traffic, at best. Fixed limit games were supposed to make their way back to New Jersey but haven’t, and Stud games are not available on the site.

On a side, I find it a bit lazy and distasteful that WSOP.com still displays the Fixed Limit and Stud lobbies. At this point, they’re simply cluttering the interface.

Tournaments

20-25 concurrent Sit & Go tables appears to be the norm during peak weeknight hours (7 pm – 11 pm). From the overnight hours, all the way to the mid-afternoon, hardly any SNGs run.

That’s still an improvement over June, when it was very rare to ever find more than 20 games running. My assumption is that Party/Borgata’s decision to nix its Sit & Go leaderboards drove some grinders back to WSOP.com.

Turning to tournaments, the site’s daily and weekly majors continue to thrive. The nightly $10,000 guarantee beats its minimum benchmark on a near nightly basis, as does the $5,000 GTD Nightly. Even the nightly High Rollers, two of just a few freezeout tournaments offered by the operator, tend to crush their modest guarantees by 50% or more.

The site’s biggest weekend major, currently a $30,000 guarantee, typically features prize pools in the $30k – $35k range.

WSOP.com heavily favors the rebuy and add-on tournament format, and for good reason. R&A tourneys allow the operator to keep the initial buy-in amount low and the guarantee high.

Emphasis on “initial.” In reality, players participating in R&A MTTs should except to spend at least three times as much as what’s listed in the tournament lobby. Sadly, even the majority of smaller tournaments (guarantees of $1,500 or less) feature rebuys and add-ons. Players who only allocate a small amount of money to poker may be better off grinding somewhere else.

Grade: B (B-)

Value/Promotions: The most diverse and creative in NJ, but value low

WSOP.com deserves points for being by far the least complacent New Jersey online poker operator. Now, if only its promotions offered more in the way of player value.

On the plus side

The operator tends to expand its promotional palette both during the live Series (May – early July), and when ESPN is televising coverage of the Main Event (August – November).

Players earn one Total Rewards Tier Credit for every Action Player Point they accrue while playing on the site.

100% match reload bonuses (sometimes up to $1,000) typically find their way on to the promotional page every few months or so.

A few negatives

The value of individual promotions is capped rather low. Leader board promotions rarely dole out more than $4,000 in monthly cash, distributed among dozens of players. Sweepstakes promos rarely offer top prizes worth writing home about.

Rakeback bonuses often have to be cleared.

Casual players are not well represented, as most WSOP.com promos are of the leader board or “grind” variety.

Every now and then, WSOP.com will host a promotion that goes beyond creative, especially when there’s a strong cross-promotional opportunity to be had.

Take the Online 9 for instance. Players that reached the final table of a $99.99 buy-in tournament were randomly assigned a “seat-mate” that corresponds to a player at the Main Event final table. In addition to their winnings, the player whose seat-mate emerged victorious won a $1,000 cash bonus.

Promos of this variety work because they actively engage players away from the virtual green felt. Call it cross-promotion at its finest.

It would just be nice if occasionally the operator used all the money it’s saving on rakeback (cashback rates are below industry averages) to host one big promo. That being said, WSOP is still miles ahead of the competition.

Tournament value

Unfortunately, there isn’t much value to be had in the way of tournament overlays, nor are tournament prize pools as inflated as they were earlier this year.

Although I still feel that playing WSOP.com majors is a wise investment, as there are a plenty of fish willing to fire off multiple barrels in both the $5k and $10 guarantees.

Grade: B (B-)

Software: Neither praiseworthy or offensive

888 Poker is one of the fastest growing sites in the ROW market, and I’m fairly convinced that it’s rise has nothing to do with the quality of its software.

Compared to the PokerStars client, 888’s offering comes off as antiquated and lacking, especially in the areas of functionality, aesthetics and customization.

The thing is, until recently, most non-PokerStars branded clients weren’t much better. That’s begun to change, and I feel in order to stay competitive, 888’s client will need a fresh coat of paint.

For now, WSOP’s client still falls under the category of adequate, but with each passing day its limitations are becoming more glaringly obvious.

In the short-term, I’d advise the operator to at least remove unused Fixed Limit and Stud lobbies, support additional game filters, and allow players to view their loyalty status from somewhere that isn’t a cash game table. Greater customization would also be viewed as a plus.

And why do outside webpages open in Internet Explorer? No one uses that browser.

The one positive change to the WSOP client is hidden in the cashier: PayPal is now available as a depositing method.

Unfortunately, the addition of the widely popular and respected payment processor hasn’t resulted in material liquidity gains. I’m guessing this is because most depositing players who have had their credit card or other transactions rejected probably gave up on NJ online poker long ago.

Still, the broader implications of PayPal working with regulated US gambling sites is huge, especially in states that will offer it on Day One.

Grade: C (C+)

Customer service: WSOP forum underutilized, support shoddy at best

The WSOP.com support forum offers a fair bit of useful information including contact info for customer support, a detailed listing of current promotions and information regarding failed credit/debit card transactions.

Furthermore, questions/concerns posted in new threads are answered by WSOP staff in a timely and efficient matter.

The problem is not enough players are utilizing it. Part of that is because the forum is not a part of Two Plus Two, but I feel as though WSOP.com could have done a better job promoting it.

As for the WSOP.com support staff, reps strike me as more eager and willing to help than on other NJ sites, yet equally unequipped to answer the hard questions. Also, it’s rather irksome that live chat representatives are only on call from the hours of 3 pm – 11 pm.

Thankfully, live phone support is available 24/7, and email response times, while still a bit unpredictable, tend to be quicker than they were 12 months ago.

Still NJ’s best, although I suspect PokerStars will assume that mantle come 2016.

Grade: B- (B-)

Overall: Casual players often ignored

WSOP’s current strategy appears centered around retaining and catering to high-volume site regulars. That’s somewhat of a departure from what I witnessed earlier in the year.

WSOP cut rakeback, avowing to allocate more funds for promotions.

In January, the operator reduced the table cap, a move that is typically perceived as casual-friendly.

Promotions and tournament series tailored toward low-volume and budget players popped up in abundance.

After just a few months, the casual-friendly promotions seemed to be replaced by ones that favored grinders.

Personally, I’m not entirely convinced, and think the operator should spend some of its creative energy cooking up an enticing casual focused promo.

That being said, there’s still plenty to like about WSOP. It’s just too bad the operator doesn’t have more say when it comes to technological and support upgrades.

Grade: B- (B-)

Review from June 2015

Traffic: Seasonal downwind ravages liquidity

It’s a good thing WSOP.com made the strategic decision to share partial liquidity with then third place poker room 888 Poker NJ, as this year’s seasonal downtrend has had a devastating impact on industry traffic, with WSOP.com bearing the brunt.

According to PokerScout.com, the WSOP/888 network is currently averaging approximately 165 cash game players, representing a 17% drop over the past two months, and a 32% drop from its 2015 peak.

Cash game traffic peaks at around 400 – 450 on weekday nights, and in the high 300’s on weekends.

I’d estimate that somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of traffic is shared between the two networks, with WSOP.com accounting for a strong majority of non-shared liquidity.

Sit & Go traffic is markedly down. Major tournament traffic is also down, but most tourneys still manage to scrape by their rather conservative guarantees.

Interestingly, traffic on WSOP NJ and WSOP NV are roughly the same, despite WSOP NJ having access to a significant larger resident pool.

Cash games

The level of cash game activity on WSOP.com is down, way down.

When WSOP.com first joined the WSOP/888 network it wasn’t uncommon to find 70 – 80 concurrent cash games running. That number has effectively been slashed by over a third, with about 40 – 50 tables the new norm.

Granted, May and June are typically two of the worst months for online poker, primarily due to the advent of warmer whether and the influx of live tournament options. But still, a one-third drop feels a little excessive.

As expected, small stakes NHLE games rule the lobby, accounting for about 70% of all games played. However, it’s worth noting that players are more prone to play mid-to-high stakes games ($1/$2 – $10/$20) on WSOP.com than 888 Poker NJ.

PLO is also more prevalent on WSOP.com, accounting for anywhere between 5 – 15% of ring game liquidity.

Tournaments

WSOP slashed the amount awarded via its recurrent Sit & Go Leader Boards promotion by 60%. As a result, SNG traffic has fallen by about the same. These days, it’s unlikely to find more than 15 – 20 SNGs running during peak hours. The well dries up completely during overnight and morning hours.

It’s little wonder that a chunk of WSOP’s SNG grinders made the switch to PartyBorgata, as the latter awards $10,000 per month spread out among its top performers, as opposed to WSOP’s $3,000.

On the flip side, WSOP’s nightly Major tournaments continue to pull enviable numbers. The daily High-Roller events often surpass their modest guarantees, as do the $10,000 and $5,000 guarantees.

Rebuys and Add-ons: Along the same lines, the extended rebuy period and big add-on enable WSOP to keep the initial buy-in amount low and GTD high. Does the format give players on an unrestricted budget an edge? Absolutely. But the potential risk-to-reward ratio is so great, that I bet most “one-bullet wonders” don’t mind.

Conservatism: When WSOP.com and 888 Poker merged, the guarantees of all but a few tournaments remained static, when they could have afforded a modest bump.

That said, WSOP’s nightly MTTs no longer obliterate their guarantees by 50%. Now it’s more like 20-25%.

Take away rebuys and add-ons, ditch the conservatism, and it’s apparent how much WSOP.com relies on these aspects of their business. To illustrate, the single entry Sunday $40,000 GTD has posted overlays of $8,365, $13,545 and $3,925 in the first three weeks of May.

Give WSOP.com credit for boasting by far the most creative and comprehensive promotional schedule in the US regulated market. Everyone from cash game players, tournament grinders and sit & go aficionados are represented in relatively equal proportions.

However, the value of each individual promotional is a bit on a low side, with leader board promos awarding anywhere between $1,000 – $3,000 a month and threshold bonuses up to about $2,500.

Some allowances must be made, as it’d be unrealistic for players to expect WSOP.com to keep rolling out a half-dozen or more promotions a month, and have each one potentially be worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, especially in a market as niche as New Jersey. But I’m of the mind that if promotional value must be kept low, then why not target promotions at players who’d be happy to earn a few extra bucks – namely, recreational players.

Interestingly, WSOP has dabbled in casual-friendly promos before, but not lately, and I’m curious as to why. Wasn’t the whole reason WSOP instituted cuts to its rakeback program so that it could distribute bonus funds more evenly?

Instead, we have promos that either task players with accumulating a significant number of player points (see The Climb and APP Threshold Bonus) or leader boards where only the highest volume players have a realistic shot of landing in the top three.

Other offers

In addition to the possibility of earning threshold bonuses, Action Club players will now earn one Total Rewards Tier Credit per Action Player Point earned online. This added synergy between the online product and Caesars brick & mortar loyalty program is long overdue and very welcome.

The Nevada Matchup promo, awarding a status match on WSOP NV to all WSOP NJ players, is also a nice touch and a good incentive for NJ players to frequent WSOP NV while out in Las Vegas for the live Series.

Overall, there’s still plenty of promotional value to be had on WSOP, perhaps more than ever. I just wish there was that one slam dunk promotion that awarded consistency and loyalty as much as it did volume, and maybe a recurrent promo designed for the little guy.

Tournament value

Despite no longer crushing their guarantees, there is certainly some value to be had by playing MTTs on WSOP.com, if only because the guaranteed prize pool to initial buy-in ratios remain relatively high.

However, if you’re the type to fire multiple bullets each night, that ratio shrinks in a hurry.

And don’t expect to find much in the way of overlays, Sunday’s $40,000 GTD being one of the sole exceptions.

Grade: B- (B-)

Software: Loses ground by staying the same

The noticeable lack of structural upgrades to WSOP’s online poker platform is rather disappointing.

That’s not to say the platform is in serious need of repair, but it essentially looks and plays the same as it did when first launched in New Jersey some 18 months ago.

Which wouldn’t be so bad, if the initial launch product didn’t come off as antiquated.

Although the desktop client is less buggy and prone to disconnects than Party / Borgata’s NJ software, it is not without its share of problems. To name a few:

The “Open Identical” table feature functions oddly.

There is an utter void of customization features.

Quick deposits do not allow for promotional codes to be entered.

There is still no way to view Action Club status without first opening a table.

The Stud and Stud Hi/Lo lobbies do not list any games. In their stead is a perpetual “Loading table details” message.

Admittedly, these are only minor-to-moderate concerns, and WSOP must be granted some allowances, since it’s 888 that provides the software. But it’ll only be so long before players become fed up with what amounts to an increasingly outdated poker client, especially if a better option presents itself (aka PokerStars).

Customer service: Support forum a nice touch, but support is clueless

There are some that criticized WSOP.com for launching a separate support forum, as opposed to reestablishing a presence on 2 + 2. I’m not one of them.

Instead, I personally feel that any representation from an authoritative source such as Head of Online Poker Bill Rini is far better than no representation whatsoever.

Unfortunately, the new forum has failed to attract much in the way of foot traffic, but that may very change, pending Rini maintains his presence and the unwieldy forum interface is improved.

And let’s hope he does, as WSOP’s customer service reps are often less than helpful. Courtesy and eager, yes – but both live chat and phone reps are often unaware of current promotions, and tend to explain benefits via overly simplistic hypothetical models. Compounding matters, the live chat option is only available eight hours per day (3 PM – 11 PM).

Then there are the email response times, which range from two days to forever. Don’t bother.

All in all, I can’t be too critical of WSOP.com, as the company has clearly put forth some effort in the customer service arena, but it’s difficult not to miss the days of Ultimate Poker, and their stellar support team.

Grade: B- (B-)

Overall:

If I were forced to sum up my feelings toward WSOP NJ in one word, it would be: average.

Nearly everything about the operation is at least serviceable, yet nothing stands out as truly extraordinary. This wasn’t always the case. Why, just a couple of months ago there was more value to be had playing sit & go’s on WSOP than on any other NJ poker room. Rakeback opportunities too, were far more plentiful one year ago than they are today.

Recent cost cutting measures were supposed to be offset by a stronger promotional schedule, and to a degree they have. Yet individually, the promotions still come off as underwhelming. It’s also difficult to ignore the fact that most promos hold little appeal to recreational players.

The inclusion of support forums and ties to Total Rewards were certainly nice touches. And not for nothing, the promos WSOP.com has cooked up to coincide with the live Series appear pretty juicy.

Yet, I can’t see WSOP.com remaining relevant in the regulated market unless they become more proactive with regards to technology and customer service.

Grade: B- (B)

Review from February 2015

Traffic: Shared liquidity prompts a massive surge

There’s been some confusion lately regarding the impact of WSOP/888’s merger on total industry liquidity.

Let me clarify by saying that the merger is only having a minor impact on raw cash game liquidity. However, due to the nature of the agreement, players are going to notice a huge spike in low-stakes and tournament activity on both WSOP and 888.

To illustrate:

Prior to the merger, average cash game traffic on WSOP was hovering somewhere between 110 – 115 and trending neutral.

Based on numbers provided by PokerScout, we see that total average liquidity on the WSOP/888 network is currently flirting with 250.

About two-thirds of that number is accounted for by shared tables. The remaining one-third is the sum of non-shared tables on each site.

WSOP remains the more popular of the two sites, accounting for about two-thirds of the non-shared traffic total.

All of which leads me to estimate that average daily traffic on WSOP is approximately 210 – 220, or about 20% higher than it is on Party/Borgata.

Cash Games

Since the time of my last set of reviews, the number of concurrently running cash game tables during peak hours has effectively doubled to between 70 – 80.

As expected, the majority of cash game activity occurs at the lower stakes, primarily $.25/$.50 and below, but relative to 888, WSOP spreads a higher frequency of mid ($.50/$1 – $2/$4) to high ($3/$6 – $5/$10) stakes cash games. PLO is also more prevalent on WSOP than its sister.

Tournaments

Sit & Go volume on WSOP is as healthy as its ever been, largely thanks to the strength of the site’s recurrent Sit & Go leaderboard promotion. Granted, January’s iteration allocated less weekly prize money ($5,000) than previous versions ($7,500), but $20,000 in added value is still nothing to sneeze at.

It’s not uncommon to find upwards of 30 Sit & Gos running during prime time, and I’ve witnessed totals as high as 20 after hours (12 am – 3 am). Stakes run the gamut from $1 to $100 and are heavily weighted towards 6-Max.

But of all the site’s game formats, its high profile MTTs have experienced the most significant gains. Again, this is mostly an immediate result of WSOP’s newly-forged ties to 888, but also a result of traffic begetting traffic.

As for WSOP’s now $40,000 GTD Weekly Sunday (up from $25,000), since the increase, turnouts have almost doubled. Granted, the site’s largest weekly Major still just barely manages to scrape by its lofty guarantee, but is performing worlds better than it was back in the fall, when a 10% overlay could be considered a victory.

In a word, NJ players looking for action are best served playing on WSOP.

Grade: (last review grade in parenthesis) B (C+)

Value/promotions: Increased emphasis placed on recreational players

WSOP’s promotional schedule is evenly weighted between promos that reward outstanding or high-volume play and those designed to keep recreational players in the game. And for that the operator should be commended.

Promotions such as Sit & Go Leader Boards, and Player of the Year Race will appeal to the site’s fiercest and most dedicated grinders, while Cash Masters, which rewards players who participate in just a few raked hands each day, and the recently concluded Cracked & Busted, are tailor-made for light-hearted play.

Some might argue that WSOP is placing too much emphasis on its casual player base. To an extent, I agree. The site has drastically cut back on the amount of rakeback distributed to all but its highest volume players, and in the current poker climate, its highest tier (Seven Stars) is virtually unattainable.

Whether WSOP’s cost-cutting measures and quality of life changes will pay dividends down the road is yet to be seen, and is largely dependent on the strength and ingenuity of its upcoming promotions and its ability to strike a healthy balance between the wants of pros and hobbyists.

Tournament value

With regards to tournament value, since partially merging with 888, tournament overlays on WSOP are few and far between. However, these days, players are competing for much larger prize pools, and there’s something to be said about that.

It’s especially good news for professional players, who due to WSOP’s inclination towards rebuy and add-on formats, often only have to put up a small amount of money to compete for first place prizes ranging from $1,500 – $5,000.

On the flip side, players whose budget restricts them to one or two bullets are placed at an extreme disadvantage, and encouraged to read between the lines.

Grade: B- (C)

Software: Tournament structures in need of reexamination

By this point I’ve virtually exhausted everything I have to say about WSOP’s software, so I’ll focus primarily on other points.

With regards to WSOP’s desktop and mobile applications, they’re serviceable but nothing flashy, relatively stable, undergo little in the way of noteworthy upgrades and relative to Party/Borgata’s much maligned client, are a breath of fresh air.

That being said, the structure for both the $10,000 and $5,000 nightly guarantees are greatly flawed. The extended rebuy period and big add-on makes it so that hardly any players are eliminated until after the two hour mark, with virtually everyone having a relatively deep stack.

As a result, it takes an elongated amount of time to play down to the final nine. By then, the blinds are so high that the remaining players are forced to play average stacks of 10 -15 big blinds. What results is an all-in or fold shove fest that virtually nullifies a player’s skill edge.

Granting players the ability to actually play poker when the pay jumps matter most is the cornerstone of a well-thought out structure.

But right now, WSOP’s efforts with regards to MTT structure balance are decidedly absent.

Grade: B- (B)

Customer service: Community left to discover business model changes on their own

I’m a strong believer in full disclosure. So when WSOP rolls out changes to its poker paradigm unannounced, I’m admittedly a bit baffled.

Maybe its because the team doesn’t want to provoke the scorn of the poker community, but in my estimation, the backlash is even worse when players discover changes that they deem unfavorable on their own.

That being said, Head of Online Poker Bill Rini is typically more than willing to explain the reasoning behind any and all changes after the fact, and is constantly meeting with players (both recreational and professional alike), extracting their opinions on how best to move forward.

WSOP is also the most proactive and experimental of New Jersey’s poker operations, illustrating a willingness to take chances.

And while the site’s promos and business decisions aren’t always well received, overall, I feel WSOP does cares about the growth of the U.S. regulated market.

As for its customer service representatives, they’re capable of handling most fundamental questions. However, email inquiries are rarely handled in a suitable time frame, which would be a problem if WSOP’s software caused the community more problems, or if the site frequently deviated from its policies – but that’s just not the case.

Grade: B- (B-)

Overall: Well-suited for all but select demographics

While I’m of the mind that high-volume, low-stakes grinders are best served playing on WSOP’s sister site, most other players, especially recreational players and MTT grinders, will feel comfortable on WSOP.

It’s not that the site is doing anything particularly mind-blowing at the moment, but more what the competition, namely Party/Borgata, isn’t doing. That being said, I do believe the site has to step up its game in preparation for PokerStars. Whether this be via reexamination of its player loyalty program, even more ambitious promotions, bigger VIP freerolls or something else, is up to the team.

But for now, WSOP’s stable client, creative promotional offers, increased traffic and stellar SNG playing environment are reason enough to allocate the site an above average grade.

Traffic: Cash game activity trending downward

In the two-and-a-half months succeeding the conclusion of the live Series, volume on WSOP.com inched steadily downward.

Cash games

A mid-October surge, likely facilitated by the launch of several new promos, virtually negated the late-summer swoon, but these gains were quickly offset by a sharp drop-off.

Since, volume has recovered somewhat, but at an average of 112 cash game players, is still 20% lower than it was in late-July – which wouldn’t be so bad if history didn’t dictate that traffic was supposed to start trending upwards by early-fall.

During peak weekday hours, players can expect to find anywhere from 35 – 40 concurrent cash games running. There’s been a slight paradigm shift away from NLHE of late, with PLO games now accounting for roughly one-quarter of active ring games.

Stakes generally range from the lowest of the low ($.01 / $.02) up through $3 / $6 and occasionally $5 / $10.

Tournaments

SNG traffic has held relatively steady for several months now, largely thanks to the strength of WSOP’s SNG Leader Board promotion, which is in my estimation, by far the best recurrent promo in New Jersey.

The past few iterations of the promo have awarded $7,500 in weekly prize money, spread out over three tiers (low, medium and high). No other site in the regulated market can say they consistently dedicate $30,000 a month towards one promo. Kudos for that.

Thanks to the Leader Board, it’s not uncommon to find upwards of 20 SNGs running during peak hours, most of the 6-Max turbo and heads-up variety. Stakes typically run the gamut between $1 – $50, although $100 and $200 games are not unheard of.

Tournament traffic has taken a small hit, although the site’s flagship nightly, a $30 buy-in, $10,000 GTD R&A tends to reach its minimum benchmark more often than not.

The nightly $5k GTD R & A hasn’t been faring quite as well, likely due to its late starting time of 9 pm, small buy-in to prize pool ratio, and poor structure.

In addition, Sunday’s $25,000 GTD freezeout rarely hits its guarantee, often offering an overlay of 10% or more. Although, on a somewhat brighter note, just about every other Major on the weekend schedule bests its modest guaranteed prize pool.

Grade: (last review grade in parenthesis) C+ (B-)

Value/promotions: Cost-cutting measures have a drastic impact

My, what a difference a few months make.

Around the advent of 2016’s live Series, WSOP.com made the strategic decision to effectively halve the rakeback for most player loyalty tiers, under the premise that more money would be distributed elsewhere (reload bonuses, promotions, aggressive guarantees etc.).

And for a time, it was. Whether through an enhanced welcome bonus, reload bonus, better promos or a one-off tournament series, it was clear that the site was spending money.

But since the summer, it appears that the well has run somewhat dry.

The total value of November’s promotions is in the vicinity of $50,000. Compare that to July, when it was at least $65,000. (Mind you, these are very rough estimates.)

That disparity doesn’t seem so bad until one considers that throughout the Series, WSOP.com was offering a 100% match bonus up to $1,000 to both new and returning players.

The best players can expect today is a 100% match up to $400 on first deposits and the very occasional flash or promo driven reload bonus.

Factor in that WSOP’s welcome bonus clears at a painfully low 20% rakeback rate, and it becomes apparent that new players are better off starting their online poker careers elsewhere.

About the only bright spot are the recurrent SNG leader boards, but they only impact a small subset of the online poker playing community.

Alright, tournament value is also on the rise, but that’s more a consequence of falling volume than a result of WSOP’s active involvement. If anything, WSOP’s reliance on rebuy and big add-on tournament formats comes across as a cost-cutting measure designed to coerce players into thinking they’re getting tremendous bang for their buck.

All of which would be excusable if WSOP’s player rewards programs didn’t insult players with single-digit rakeback.

Grade: C (B+)

Software: Few noteworthy upgrades

Maybe it’s just me, but in the past six months I’ve noticed exactly one upgrade to WSOP’s poker platform. Admittedly, it’s one that had a dramatic effect on my ability to enjoy online poker.

Players can now connect to mobile devices via 4G LTE, all but rendering the need to be within proximity of multiple Wi-Fi signals obsolete.

Otherwise the software remains relatively unchanged, which isn’t a bad thing for those who value core functionality over aesthetic appeal and customization.

WSOP’s desktop and mobile platforms tout most of the basic features players have come to expect from an online poker client, and little more. They serve as a stark contrast to Party / Borgata’s offerings, which look sharper, but are bogged down by broken links, lag and oddly missing features.

Contrarily, response times on WSOP.com are generally fast. Disconnects, although prevalent, have become less common. And the site’s cashiering interface is intuitive and ripe with deposit and withdrawal options.

There are a few minor annoyances, however:

Every time I log-in, I’m forced to observe the same promotional message, even if I’ve already clicked “Learn More” on a prior occasion.

Then there’s the Live Chat pop-up that appears whenever I access the cashier, which wouldn’t be so bad, if live chat were actually available at the time I was making a deposit.

It would also be nice to be able to observe my loyalty status from somewhere other than a cash game table.

Again, these are minor grievances, but there’s enough of them to be rather irksome. Otherwise, WSOP’s software is as average and serviceable as its ever been.

Grade: B (B)

Customer Service: The least of three evils

If Party / Borgata’s and 888’s customer service department weren’t so atrocious, I’d have more to say about WSOP’s spotty approach to player-operator interaction.

Generally speaking, WSOP’s agents are only capable of handling the most rudimentary questions. For anything complex, I recommend deferring to Head of Online Poker Bill Rini.

Unfortunately, Bill’s (justified) withdrawal from the site’s dedicated Two Plus Two Internet forum left a void that has yet to be filled, although he can still generally be reached via 2+2 PM or Twitter.

There have been multiple reports of players never receiving responses to email queries, or worse yet, receiving the dreaded form letter. This appears to be happening with more frequency than in the past.

But to be fair, WSOP’s software has caused me so few problems, that I haven’t had much of a need to contact the customer service department – and that’s by and large, a good thing.

Grade: B- (B+)

Overall: WSOP slips a bit

While I would like to see more in the way of software upgrades and forum representation, playing on WSOP remains a mostly pleasant experience.

Problem is, due to the site’s poor player loyalty program and substandard promotions, I just don’t feel the same pressing need to log-in that I did in say the mid-summer.

And I’m a bit befuddled as to why WSOP’s Nevada grinders are entitled to better cashback rates and other player incentives that New Jersey players are not. Aren’t we the bigger market?

I had feared that once the live Series concluded, WSOP would scale back on its generosity. Those fears have been realized.

Traffic: Cash-game traffic rivals Party’s

After ebbing and tiding throughout May and most of June, traffic on WSOP NJ is on a sustained upswing – the reasoning behind which initially eluded me.

First I checked out the software. Nothing new of note.

Then, after scouring through the site’s software and promotional page, I still couldn’t pinpoint why 7-day cash-game averages were up nearly 25 percent since mid-June.

Checking my email, I noticed that the network was offering a limited time 200% up to $100 match bonus on all reloads. But the majority of the surge occurred before that offer was extended. So that wasn’t it.

Then it hit me. WSOP.com is thriving A) because brand recognition is at an all-time high, and B) it’s just good. More on this later.

Traffic rates

Players should expect to find anywhere between 30 to 60 concurrent cash games running during prime time. Most fates are decided over a 6-Max NLHE table, with a smattering of PLO and 9-Max tables also to be found.

Stakes generally run the gamut from a minuscule $0.05 / $.10 to $5 / $10

SNG traffic is also performing rather well (15 -25 tables), largely in part to the network’s generous S&G Leaderboard promotion, which is currently awarding five times the weekly prize pool as Party / Borgata.

Tournament traffic has also rebounded slightly, in large part due to the inception of both the WSOP Online Championship Series and the recently concluded Mini-Fest. And while the WSOPOC ultimately did not live up to its vaulted expectations, it exhibited WSOP’s continued commitment to hosting high buy-in tournaments on at least a quarterly basis.

Tournaments

In addition, Mini-Fest did feature something sorely missing from the network’s regular MTT offerings, and that was mid-stakes ($20 – $50 buy-in) tournaments. It’s just too bad WSOP hasn’t incorporated more of them into its daily schedule. Maybe soon.

While we’re on the topic, most of WSOP’s higher buy-in daily and weekly tournaments – the $25,000 Weekly Sunday, $5,000 Nightly Guarantee and $10,000 Nightly in particular – are currently featuring modest overlays. The network’s MTT menu continues to be heavily skewed towards Re-buy and Add-on formats, rendering the buy-in amounts for some tourneys a bit deceptive. Buyer beware.

One final note – on July 5, 7-day cash game averages on WSOP were 137, a mere one player behind those on Party / Borgata. This is the closest the two networks have been since regulated online poker went live in late-November.

However, because traffic grades are based on performance relative to other sites and because WSOP still features slightly less overall traffic than Party / Borgata, I decided to leave its grade as is.

Grade: B- (B-)

Value/promotions: Tremendous, with one glaring exception

WSOP’s promotional schedule oozes appeal. It’s 100% up to $1,000 first-time deposit bonus is only superseded by a nearly equivalent bonus from Party, the latter of which unlocks bonuses at an increased cashback rate.

OK, so WSOP’s match bonuses expire after 90 days and are only equivalent to a 20 percent cashback deal. But on the positive side, they’re released in small $10 increments, meaning even casual players should have no issue unlocking at least part of their bonus.

Head of Online Poker Bill Rini justified the new loyalty tiers in a post on Two Plus Two, but suffice to say, some players just weren’t having it.

I too, initially took issue with the sweeping change, but over time, grew to appreciate what the site is doing, and believe that if volume continues to increase, that the VIP benefits program will be modified once again – this time for the better.

Software: Functions better than it looks

Pedestrian aesthetics aside, WSOP’s software has reached the point where it can be considered both stable and functional.

While players who enjoy in-depth customization are best left looking elsewhere, WSOP’s minimalist approach to online poker keeps things clean without sacrificing the essentials.

Time banks, wait lists, lobby filters, quick access to the cashier – they’re all there and all operate smoothly.

In many ways, WSOP’s client (which is also the same one utilized by 888) is the antithesis of Party / Borgata’s. Whereas the latter looks better, it’s functionality is severely hindered by glitches and lag. WSOP’s, on the other hand, is fairly drab but client hangups are rare and intuitiveness abounds.

That’s not to say players won’t experience the occasional crash or geo-targeting discrepancy (Mac users in particular have experienced issues), but compared to the state of disarray it was in last November, WSOP should be commended for its efforts.

Even its Android and iOS apps are clean, concise and well-thought out. More importantly, they work. Just remember to mute that god-awful background music.

So if you’re not expecting PokerStars, and by this point most New Jersey players aren’t, WSOP’s client will serve as a more than serviceable, if slightly antiquated, placeholder.

Grade: B (B-)

Customer service: Spotty at times, but mostly strong

The fact that WSOP did not forewarn players regarding the implementation of a new player loyalty scheme until after the fact causes the network to lose a few points.

And Bill Rini’s decision to take a more detached approach to forum involvement, while justified, certainly doesn’t help either.

But the fact that I’ve only needed to reach them on a select few occasions speaks volume as to how little trouble I’ve had playing on WSOP.

Grade: B+ (A-)

Overall: Another solid effort

Customer service and the revamping of its VIP scheme aside, WSOP’s past two months have been its best, and I didn’t even touch upon how admirable a job it did cross-promoting its online offering with the live WSOP and catering to players who have had difficulty loading funds via traditional methods, particularly credit/debit cards.

My concern is that with the live WSOP coming to a close, will WSOP scale back on its generosity, contenting itself to only roll out the red carpet each June, or will it continue down the path it’s going?

In either case, WSOP has done more in the past month to raise U.S. regulated poker awareness than NJ’s other three networks have since their inception, and that’s worth something.

Traffic: WSOP volume wanes, but at a more modest rate

During peak hours, it’s rare to find more than 50 concurrent cash-games running. That’s in the neighborhood of 60 percent of the games running on Party at equivalent times.

Yet in the overall cash-game traffic department, WSOP only trails Party NJ by approximately 20 percent. Why the discrepancy?

A quick scouring of WSOP’s player policy page answered my question. WSOP invokes a six-table cash-game maximum; likely implemented to combat bumhunting. This would explain why the tables-per-player ratio is lower on WSOP than Party NJ.

The 6-max rule does not apply to tournaments.

Cash-game stakes run the gamut from $.01/$.02 to $2/$4 and occasionally higher. At least 80 percent of cash-game outcomes are decided over a NLHE table.

Due to the lack of a Sit & Go promo, SNG volume has fallen dramatically, with usually no more than 15 low-stakes games running at once. Why WSOP refused to make the SNG Leaderboards a permanent fixture of the site is light years beyond me.

My main grievance with the MTT schedule is that it heavily favors re-buy and add-on structures over more traditional forays. It’s better than it was, and the inclusion of a few mid-stakes tournaments is a nice touch, but the daily MTT listing is still too skewed toward multiple bullet tournaments for my taste.

WSOP MTTs generally hit their guarantees, but rarely exceed them by more than 10 or 20 percent.

Although traffic is slumping overall, I’m of the mind that if there’s a room that can flip the switch without resorting to drastic, fiscally irresponsible methods, it’s WSOP.

Traffic: B- (B)

Value/promotions: WSOP goes from worst to first

Last time around, I condemned WSOP for its utter lack of enticing promos. Regardless of whether or not my scalding review had any impact on decision making, things over at WSOP have improved.

First and foremost, WSOP now offers the single best match bonus in the Garden State. The only caveat is that players must use the e-wallet Neteller as their payment processor of choice – a small price to pay for a $1,000 match bonus and $20 in free cash.

WSOP has also done an admirable job of capitalizing on its allegiance with Caesars’ land-based casinos, evidenced by its WSOPC Championship Freerolls.

And as expected, the site has rolled out its WSOP promos, which grant top finishers entry into various live WSOP events. Less expected were the four vehicles in which players can qualify for such events. Bravo.

As mentioned previously overlays are not common on WSOP, and cash-game rake tends towards the high side. Thus, the value to be had on the site is not quite as high as it could be.

However, WSOP does offer its most dedicated players the opportunity to receive 30 percent rakeback via its VIP rewards scheme – the Action Club. Thanks to the Club’s multi-tiered structure, even casuals shouldn’t have much trouble reaching Gold status, which rewards 10 percent rakeback.

WSOP now allows players dropped from the server due to geolocation errors the opportunity to finish their current hand. Kudos for that.

Otherwise, navigating WSOP remains a fairly intuitive process, at least by poker player standards. Nothing about the layout or aesthetics of the site stand out, but the software performs admirably under most conditions.

I say “most” because Mac and mobile users are experiencing their fair share of disconnects, most of them due to flaws in the site’s geo-targeting software.

I myself experienced a plethora of location verification hiccups during my time playing on WSOP’s otherwise brilliant Android app. More on that here.

Should WSOP eradicate its player targeting quagmires, I would avidly recommend playing on its site. As is, players not using a PC – preferably a hard-wired one – to do their check-raising best beware.

Grade: B- (B)

Customer service: Continues to make the grade

Customer service complaints on WSOP’s forum are few and far between, largely due to the efforts of WSOP’s Head of Online Poker Bill Rini.

Compared to other site reps, Mr. Rini comes across as kind, informative and thoughtful. He’s also quick to alert the public to new features and/or software updates.

As for the customer service team itself, they are aptly equipped to handle common problems. More complex issues tend to be brushed aside, but at least the team hides its ineptitude behind the guise of helpfulness.

Grade: A- (B+)

Overall: WSOP thrives

WSOP is probably one major software patch away from vying for NJ’s top spot. Their current promos are excellent, Bill Rini is the man, and their tournament scheduling, while slightly R + A heavy, is more than serviceable.

I’d like to see more in the way of big tournament series and for the site to continue to capitalize on its branding, but those are small issues. Conversely, the near inability to play on Macs and mobile devices are glaring problems that must be addressed.

But I have faith that they will. Let’s just hope NJ’s other iGaming operators follow suit.

What was once a virtual monopoly is now a nearly tight race for supremacy, largely thanks to WSOP’s mostly stable software, somewhat varied tournament schedule and exemplary customer service team.

Which proves just enough to make up for its glaring lack of worthwhile promotions, at least for now.

Traffic: WSOP holds firm in second

While there’s nothing truly overwhelming about WSOP’s traffic numbers, they’re high enough that players looking for a game shouldn’t have too much trouble finding one. MTTs run virtually around the clock, as do cash games.

Sit and Goes are a bit of a mixed bag. During the Sit & Go leaderboard promo they were getting off at a fairly regular clip, but since then, volume has taken a very noticeable hit.

Which raises the question, “Why not make leaderboards a staple of the site, instead of just a promo?” There’s this rumor going around that poker players revel in competition, you know. And leaderboards are just the type of thing to keep them coming back.

Snapshot of peak weekday numbers

WSOP.com does not display the number of players currently online, but I estimate that it’s somewhere in the 800 – 1000 range, which is more than BorgataPoker.com and nj.partypoker.com pull in individually.

Stakes run the gamut from $0.05 / $0.10 through $5 / $10. Notably, several threads in the WSOP.com Two Plus Two Forum request that the site spread higher limit games.

PLO games tend to run from early afternoon to the late evening, topping off at around 10 concurrent games. 7-Stud rarely gets off.

After peaking at 218 on January 26th, 7-day cash game traffic numbers are currently at 170 and trending slightly downward.

Nightly tournament tend to draw between 50 and 250 runners, on par with Party.

Upwards of 15 simultaneous SNGs will run during peak hours. Buy-ins range from $1.10 to $33 and occasionally higher. WSOP offers a far more diversified menu of SNGs than Party / Borgata.

Tournaments

Turnouts for Sunday Majors are generally solid. The site’s largest weekly tournament, the $25,000 Weekly Sunday Guarantee, draws an average of 150 players, each of whom antes up $200 + $15 for their shot at what usually amounts to 8 or 9k.

The $10,000 Weekly Sunday also has little trouble meeting its guarantee, typically drawing 140 players at $109 a clip.

Service and software: Good and great

WSOP has yet to change its much maligned server disconnect policies, which you can read more about here.

Thankfully, they’re not as big an issue as they once were, largely because server disconnects and geolocation hiccups are noticeably down.

Regarding the user interface, WSOP is the Buick to PartyPoker’s cheap sports car. One is nice to look at but sputters out once you hit third gear, while the other won’t win you any new fans, but is traditional and largely reliable.

In other words, there’s nothing special about WSOP’s site, and for the most part, that’s just fine. Why? Because navigating the site continues to be an intuitive process, especially for those who have played on other online poker sites before.

Where WSOP.com is really beginning to shine is in the customer service department. No, that doesn’t mean every one of its representatives would win a congeniality award. And no, player complaints aren’t always addressed right away.

But at least they’re addressed eventually, which is more than I can sometimes say about PartyPoker.

Mr. Rini is a quintessential example of a what all other site reps should strive to be. Knowledgeable of the game, insightful and unafraid to tell it like it is, Bill is an active participant on WSOP’s Two Plus Two forums, and has no problems providing his opinion on tricky topics.

Case in point: Bill recently engaged in an intelligent back and forth discussion with 2+2 veteran and WSOP.com reg “Gags30” regarding the possibility of allowing players to sit at more than six cash-game tables.

Bill has also been quick to respond to my direct messages on Twitter, doing whatever is in his power to rectify technical issues.

Consensus

A few weeks ago, I was nearly convinced that WSOP would eventually become the market leader in NJ’s iGaming industry. But due to the sudden dearth of attractive promotions, WSOP may have trouble gaining any further ground on Party.

Still, there’s something to be said about a site that scoffs at gimmicky promotions yet still manages to do draw NJ’s elite poker players.

Outside of a few nifty features like quick seating and a beginning players tab, there’s absolutely nothing special about WSOP’s software. A relic of a time long-past, WSOP.com is the Ford to PartyPoker’s Ferrari. Yet, thanks to its varied tournament schedule, solid player base and slew of promotional events, WSOP has solidified its place as New Jersey’s second most popular poker site.

Now if only it could rectify its software issues.

Disconnects hinder player experience

On more than one occasion, I was seated at a full-ring cash table when suddenly half the table would spontaneously disconnect. Clearly this is a main server issue and not a mere coincidence.

Compounding matters, to date WSOP has exhibited complete incompetence when dealing with these matters. Consider the following two scenarios:

1) Player A is participating in a NLHE cash-game. He gets involved in a huge hand when the geo-comply software detects he’s no longer within the state of New Jersey – which is odd considering he’s connected to an immobile landline. He is disconnected immediately, forgoing any potential earnings from winning the hand.

2) Player B is chip leader on the bubble of the $10,000 Nightly Guarantee. A scheduled server switch causes the site to disconnect for several hours. The next day, the player finds he was refunded his initial buy-in, and nothing more.

Unfortunately, both of these scenarios have occurred in reality. Granted, server issues are a part of any new online poker roll-out – that’s understandable. What’s unforgivable is that players are suffering monetary losses at no fault of their own. This is where I take issue with WSOP’s server outage policy, which can be found here.

Varied tournament schedule, promotions attract grinders

While WSOP has quite a bit of work to do before it gets my wholehearted recommendation, it must be commended for its tournament schedule and forthcoming promotions.

The site’s nightly $27.5 R&A $10,000 Nightly Guarantee is WSOP’s answer to a mid-stakes tournament, and it works. The only downside is that the tournament almost always covers its guarantee, not that that’s any fault of WSOP.com. It’s more a testament to its popularity.

And unlike PartyPoker, WSOP features a plethora of $11 to $22 tournaments, some of which guarantee $5,000. Better yet, WSOP will never cancel a tournament because it projects that too few players will sign up.

It’s also the first site to implement a Sit & Go leaderboard, although this was likely done to influence SNG traffic, which at the moment is next to nonexistent. Cash game leaderboards are also set to go into effect, beginning on January 5.

The Bottom Line

WSOP.com loses points for its significant software issues and pedestrian interface. Its software also seems to be missing several essential features, such as an efficient means of tracking one’s VIP status.

With that said, WSOP.com bolsters a far more comprehensive tournament schedule than any site I’ve seen. And its newly-minted leaderboards, extraordinary promotion schedule and reload bonuses only add to its appeal.

Not to mention, WSOP features a lower rake than NJ.PartyPoker.com, which in the long-run might be the determining factor over who reigns supreme in NJ’s iGaming landscape.

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Leading US regulated online poker site WSOP.com recently launched the industry’s first authorized stat tracking and player performance tool, WSOPStats.com.

The release signals a growing desire by the operator to expand its brand beyond the confines of the virtual green felt.

Whether the tool will become a frontline resource for players in New Jersey and Nevada remains to be seen, and may hinge on WSOP’s ability to bring something to the table that third-party trackers do not, namely in the way of complimentary offerings.

So far it appears to be on the right track.

An overview of WSOPStats.com

The stat tracking portion of WSOPStats.com is ripe with nuance, and although clearly incomplete, portrays a vision of a rather comprehensive tool.

Key features include:

A listing of recent WSOP.com tournament winners in both the New Jersey and Nevada markets, along with how much they won for first place.

Leaderboards showcasing the largest monetary prizes awarded and players with the most total tournament cashes thus far in 2015.

A schedule of upcoming tournament events, including satellites.

A player search feature, that allows users to witness pertinent tournament stats pertaining to that player, such as total winnings, top 3 finishes and a detailed performance timeline.

The tracker does not yet delve into other statistical areas, such as Sit & Go and cash game stats. Plans to implement these features are in the pipeline.

The other leg of the web application is devoted to a swatch of complimentary features:

A library of free GrinderSchool.com training videos, with an emphasis on low-to-mid stakes play.

Expert commentary from WSOP Media Director and well known poker personality Nolan Dalla.

How does WSOPStats measure up to existing third-party tracking tools?

There are several characteristics of WSOPStats.com that differentiate it from the most widely used player profiling tools:

First and foremost, it’s one of only a few tools that provides detailed statistics for tournaments played on WSOP.com in New Jersey and Nevada.

All content is publicly available. This serves in contrast to sites like PokerTableRatings.com, which has been criticized for implementing a subscription model, thus affording players who purchase a subscription a decided edge.

As per Bill Rini in a recent interview with PokerNews, “if a player wants to opt out, we can actually opt them out versus some of these sites that don’t give players that option.”

The one tracking tool that I know of that most closely resembles WSOPStats.com and focuses exclusively on the US regulated market is BLUFF‘s offering, thepokerdb.com.

Thepokerdb provides a few more bells and whistles than WSOPStats.com, including state and national rankings, cashing percentages, average cash amounts and average finish, and thus serves as a better tool for players whose sole objective is to look up information on their opponents.

Also, thepokerdb app is not exclusive to WSOP.com, covering both Party / Borgata and 888 in New Jersey.

For this reason, I do not see WSOPStats.com catching fire among the New Jersey and Nevada poker playing crowds on the merits of its tracking capability alone. That is, unless WSOP.com has its way by having players removed from other stat tracking sites.

If not, WSOPStats’ best shot at widespread appeal is to enhance the efficacy of its complimentary features.

Overall usefulness will ultimately determine WSOPStats’ fate

The good news is that comprehensiveness appears to be part of WSOPStats’ grand plan.

We endeavor WSOPStats.com to be a one-stop shop for our players to review their play and see how they stack up with others on our sites throughout regulated U.S. markets. By layering in the GrinderSchool offering, we can benefit our players as well by helping them improve their play

Two points regarding this statement:

The addition of free GrinderSchool videos that depict trainers playing on WSOP.com is the first and arguably the biggest step toward transforming WSOPStats from a singularity driven site to a multifaceted resource.

In order to be considered a worthy focal point of the site, and not a gimmicky add-on, significantly more videos must be added. This may be paramount to attracting recreational players.

Other potential keys to WSOPStats’ success:

The ability to sign on other recognizable poker names to pen regular strategy columns.

Prize rewards gifted to tournament leader boards, akin to what Party / Borgata is currently offering, or an equivalent. This will provide incentive for players to frequent the site.

Less space dedicated to advertising and information that is readily available on the main WSOP.com site. WSOPStats is currently treading a fine line between useful resource and blatant SEO marketing device.

Robert DellaFave -
Robert DellaFave is a game designer and avid poker player. He writes for several publications centered on legal US online poker and the regulated online gambling industries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.